Not my OC but what I’ve believed for years: there’s no conflict between reducing your own environmental impact and holding corporations responsible. We hold corps responsible for the environment by creating a societal ethos of environmental responsibility that forces corporations to serve the people’s needs or go bankrupt or be outlawed. And anyone who feels that kind of ethos will reduce their own environmental impact because it’s the right thing to do.
Thoughts?
I heard the position many times: Some people would like to use better options, but won’t, as long as it’s just more expensive and less convenient for them. If it was the general rule, they’d be fine with it. They don’t want to feel disadvantaged.
That is a terrible ethos and one that I struggle to imagine being truly compatible with any form of leftism. Yes, unethical behavior typically grants a personal advantage over ethical, but society suffers as a whole because of it; that’s ultimately the core criticism of capitalist society that all leftist ideology centers on. I would find it hard to trust anybody who lives their life that way. I would have constant doubts that they would have my back during tough times. After all, it may be disadvantagous to them, and they don’t want to feel disadvantaged.
And here’s the leftist purity tests coming out. Nothing hurts these causes worse than attitudes like this.
The idea that someone might advocate for a society that makes it easier for everyone (themselves included) to make the right choices is not some absurd, extreme, selfish position. It’s a totally normal, mundane perspective. And here you are rejecting anyone who doesn’t maintain your highest standard of moral virtue from your cause.
The attitude of “please try to do the best you can, even when it’s hard” is an example of unreasonable purity testing? I don’t think we’re having the same conversation.